During the team’s annual spring football game Saturday, the Kansas State Wildcats revealed plans for a $65 million upgrade to Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Originally opened in 1968, Snyder Stadium — named after current head coach Bill Snyder — has already undergone a series of renovations and expansions that has increased its capacity to 50,000 fans in recent years, among other new amenities.
As a part of the newest renovation plans, Kansas State will add an additional 1,000 seats to the north end of the stadium — which will enclose the stadium. The improvements will also double the side of the Wildcats’ Vanier Football Complex and add a pair of video boards to the stadium’s north end.
Improvements to the Vanier Football Complex will include a larger weight room, new locker rooms and an improved academic center for the athletes.
“I think it is a huge step forward,” Kansas State athletic director John Currie told The Kansas City Star. “If you look at the way we have built the complex over the last couple years, we are starting to get close to looking like what Coach Snyder has built the program into.”
Originally estimated to cost $50 million, 70 percent of the $65 million price tag will be funded by private money that the athletic department has already raised.
Kansas State plans to begin construction soon after the completion of the 2014 home football season against Kansas Nov. 29. While most of the project will be done when the 2015 home season kicks off against South Dakota Sept. 5, some sections will not finish until 2016.
Kansas City-based firm Populous is designing the project and Mortenson and GE Johnson Construction have been hired as the contractors.
